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ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KSDK) - On the campus of Washington University, lessons are learned every second, but rarely is history taught like this.

"Time out," one of the actors screams on stage.

"Jackie and Me" is a play that combines baseball, time travel and history. A story that follows Joey, a contemporary kid with a passion for baseball cards, as he travels back in time to 1947.

"He lands in Branch Rickey's office the day that Branch Rickey signed Jackie to play for the majors," says Carol North, Metro Theater Company's Artistic Director.

Of course, Jackie Robinson's courage was instrumental in bringing an end to racial segregation in professional baseball, but his struggles are sometimes overlooked by younger generations so this is a way to shine more light on it and hopefully allows the audience to feel it.

"People didn't hide it, the racism was out there right in the open and it was okay for it to be out in the open and there are a few scenes where you get to experience that," says Reginald Pierre, who plays Jackie.

"It's a tough journey and a lot of what he discovers is a tough piece of history," North says.

The hope is that as those stage lights fade, the conversation continues.

"I think as a community we're still looking hard at who we are and how we want to be with each other," North says.